Samsung’s Galaxy AI rolls out fast with powerful features across devices, while Apple takes a slower, privacy-first approach.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the center of attention in the smartphone industry. Two of the biggest technology giants—Samsung and Apple—are competing to lead this AI race. While both companies offer premium products, their AI strategies are quite different. Samsung has moved fast, rolling out its AI-powered features widely, while Apple takes a slower, more cautious approach focused on privacy and deep integration.
The following article explores whether Samsung’s AI-focused strategy gives it an advantage over Apple, based on the latest data, product updates, and market reactions.
Samsung’s Galaxy AI: Moving Fast and Wide
In January 2024, Samsung introduced Galaxy AI alongside the launch of its Galaxy S24 series. This new system brings a range of AI-powered features to Samsung devices. Galaxy AI includes:
Real-time language translation during phone calls.
Generative photo editing allows users to remove or adjust parts of images.
Summarization of notes and calls, turning long conversations into short, easy-to-read summaries.
Writing assistance for text messages and emails.
Web browsing support, helping users summarize and search content quickly.
One of Samsung’s biggest advantages is the wide reach of Galaxy AI. It works not only on the latest Galaxy S24 devices but also on other Samsung products such as Galaxy Z foldables, A-series mid-range phones, tablets, and smartwatches. Samsung’s AI features support more than 20 languages, allowing users from different regions to access these tools.
Samsung has also integrated AI directly into its camera system through its ProVisual Engine, which improves image quality by recognizing scenes, reducing noise, and enhancing HDR (high dynamic range) photos. These features provide clearer, sharper images even in difficult lighting situations.
Recently, Samsung partnered with Perplexity AI, a well-known AI search tool. This partnership allows Samsung users to get AI-powered answers while browsing, further enhancing its AI ecosystem. Samsung also continues to improve its voice assistant Bixby with more AI capabilities.
Apple’s Apple Intelligence: Privacy-First and Carefully Built
In June 2025, Apple introduced its own AI platform called Apple Intelligence during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Apple’s approach is very different from Samsung’s. Instead of releasing features all at once, Apple focuses on:
On-device AI processing, keeping data private and secure.
Personalized writing tools that can rewrite, proofread, and summarize text across apps.
Image Playground, a feature that allows users to create AI-generated images.
Genmoji, which lets users create custom emojis using AI.
Visual Intelligence, where the phone can recognize images, scan documents, and detect important details.
Apple also introduced an improved version of Siri, which uses AI to better understand natural language and context. However, Apple’s full Siri upgrade, nicknamed “Siri Vitaminada,” has been delayed until early 2026.
One major limitation of Apple Intelligence is device compatibility. The new features are only available on the iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, and the newest iPads and MacBooks with M-series chips. Older devices do not support these advanced AI features, limiting the number of users who can access Apple’s AI tools immediately.
Market Response: Samsung Gains Early Advantage
Samsung’s aggressive AI rollout has received mostly positive reactions. Consumers praise the wide availability of features, even on mid-range phones. Samsung’s AI tools are easy to access and provide real-time assistance without requiring the latest expensive hardware.
Samsung’s AI also shows strong performance in real-world usage. For example:
Task completion speed: Galaxy AI completes common tasks like translation, text summaries, or photo edits in around 1.8 seconds.
Generative photo editing: Users report that Samsung’s object removal and background reconstruction features work more accurately and produce better results than similar tools available on Apple devices.
On the other hand, Apple’s announcement caused some disappointment among investors and users. After revealing its AI plans, Apple’s stock dropped by 1.2%, wiping around $75 billion off its market value. Many felt that Apple’s AI features, while impressive in design, were too limited in reach and delayed in delivery.
Strategic Differences: Speed vs. Depth
Samsung’s Strength: Speed and Accessibility
Samsung has moved quickly to bring AI to as many devices as possible.
Galaxy AI is already available on flagship and mid-range devices across phones, tablets, wearables, and foldables.
The partnership with Perplexity AI adds additional search and browsing power to Samsung devices.
Samsung continues to update its AI tools regularly, adding new features through software updates.
Apple’s Strength: Privacy and Deep Integration
Apple takes a more cautious approach, focusing on building AI features that protect user privacy.
Most AI processing happens directly on the device, keeping user data secure.
Apple provides developers with powerful tools to build apps that use AI safely through its Foundation Models API.
Despite delays, Apple aims to deeply integrate AI across its entire ecosystem for a smoother user experience in the future.
Upcoming Developments
Samsung plans to continue expanding its AI ecosystem. The upcoming Galaxy S26 series is expected to include even more advanced AI features. Samsung’s regular software updates also ensure that existing devices continue to benefit from improvements.
Apple, while currently behind in rollout speed, is preparing for a major Siri upgrade in 2026. The delayed “Siri Vitaminada” promises to deliver a more powerful voice assistant with better understanding of context, more natural conversations, and expanded app control.
Quick Comparison Table
|
Feature |
Samsung Galaxy AI |
Apple Intelligence |
|
Launch Date |
January 2024 |
June 2025 |
|
Device Support |
Most Galaxy flagships and mid-range phones |
Limited to iPhone 15 Pro, iPads, and MacBooks with M-series |
|
Key Features |
Translation, generative editing, notes summarization, writing assistant, and browsing help |
Writing tools, Image Playground, Genmoji, Visual Intelligence |
|
Performance |
Fast task completion (~1.8 sec), better photo edits |
Flexible but slower in some tasks |
|
Rollout Strategy |
Fast, across devices, frequent updates |
Slow, limited release, privacy-first |
|
Market Reaction |
Positive |
Mixed, some disappointment |
Does Samsung Have the Edge
At present, Samsung’s AI-focused strategy gives it a clear lead in the market. By launching features earlier and making them available across a wide range of devices, Samsung reaches more users faster. Its partnerships, like the one with Perplexity AI, show a strong ambition to build a complete AI ecosystem.
Apple’s approach focuses on privacy, security, and deep integration, which could give it an advantage over time as features mature. However, the limited device support and delayed rollout leave Apple trailing Samsung for now.
The next 12 to 18 months will be critical. Samsung’s future Galaxy devices will likely continue pushing AI boundaries, while Apple’s full Siri upgrade in 2026 could help it close the gap. Both companies are playing long games, but in this early stage of the smartphone AI race, Samsung currently holds the advantage.
